Schumacher not expecting grand send-off

Michael Schumacher says he expects a tough end to his time in F1 after another retirement in India

Michael Schumacher admits that he doesn't expect to end his F1 career on a high after another disappointing weekend in India.

The German, who will retire for a second time at the conclusion of the current season, failed to finish at the Buddh International Circuit after stopping in the closing stages with a gearbox issue.

The seven-time champion had already been forced to pit on the opening lap with a puncture and had then been investigated by stewards for ignoring blue flags and he admitted he didn't expect his year to end with a massive upturn in fortunes.

"It would be nice [to end on a high], very clearly," the Mercedes man was quoted by ESPNF1. "But I'm not expecting it and I'm not very sentimental about it.

"As long as I can fight for top positions then I do my job as much as I can and I try to help the team and get things ready for them for next year as much as possible. But other than that, it's kind of a normal job."

Schumacher added that his latest retirement was far from ideal but admitted that his race had been ruined by contact with Jean-Eric Vergne on the opening lap that caused his puncture.

"We have done 17 races and we have had eight retirements, so [nearly] 50% retirements," he said. "Well, that's not a statistic we are used to - certainly not. But obviously we retired the car for precaution reasons but it was all done by the first corner."